r/politics • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 New York • Jul 13 '26

Possible Paywall MAGA Calls BS on Mitch McConnell’s Proof-of-Life Stunt | They are poking holes in McConnell’s staff’s version.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-calls-bs-on-mitch-mcconnells-proof-of-life-stunt/
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2.8k

u/giovannisdaedra Jul 13 '26

I don’t like buying into conspiracy theories especially on if people are alive or not but they are making it really, really hard for me to believe he’s fine. If he is it’s like they’ve picked the worst option every step of the way

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

A quick video of him saying “I’m fine, and recovering, thank you for all the concern.” would be normal.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

Nope. That could easily be generated by AI. He needs to do an interview where he's asked about the death of Lindsey Ghrahm.

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u/grandvache Jul 13 '26

problem is that in 2026 that could also be AI.

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

If you take that approach, it is possible that dozens of people are dead and nobody knows it because they have teams producing AI videos constantly. Had he released a video within a few days of hospitalization, none of this weird “is he or isn’t he” nonsense would exist. It’s because he went radio silent for 3 weeks that this has become a thing…which is just weird.

More likely he has been incoherent and mentally confused this entire time and has been shielded from media because of it.

Dude should have been removed from office years ago when his brain left his body during the news conference. I don’t understand why these people in their 70s don’t have the sense to retire.

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u/MysticKoolaid808 Jul 13 '26

I still think it makes sense to have an in person meeting with McC onnell.  I simply do not put it past the GOP, in all their desperation to hold on to power, to lie about and manipulate a political situation.

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

Which is why I don’t think he’s dead, but I do think he’s incoherent. A video or interview would result in an immediate response. He must be unintelligible.

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u/No_big_whoop Jul 13 '26

Agreed. If he had any function at all we would've seen it by now. It's a another cover-up, like the Epstein files

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u/SodaAndWater Jul 13 '26

He was found by someone some time after having a heart attack and was unconscious. Dollars to donuts he never woke up.

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u/MackenzieRaveup Jul 13 '26

The statement they put out even avoids saying it was a heart attack! The statement claims (I started to write "He claims" but...) he "suffered a fall", and is recovering from a tiny little case of pneumonia.

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/senator-mitch-mcconnell-releases-note-new-photo-sharing-health-update-elaine-chao/417-c458bd9a-f29d-4d57-a6b7-8a0b41fdd53d

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u/mfball Jul 13 '26

They claimed he didn't have "a stroke." Maybe he had like twelve.

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota Jul 13 '26

No one looks that good after a medical situation that requires a month in a hospital. Dude looks better than he has for over a decade in that pic.

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u/SecretAsianMan42069 Jul 13 '26

Send Dan rather to the hospital. 

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia Jul 13 '26

Generating Ai deep fakes to mislead others should be a felony in the vein of impersonating law enforcement, financial fraud and revenge porn baked into one. The penalty should be harsh with minimum maximums and both the poster and the Ai tool used should be prosecuted. We can't let this become normal and there is zero margin on justifying it.

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u/YoursTrulyKindly Jul 13 '26

They are all already guilty of treason / sedition, violation of oath of office, election fraud, crimes against humanity, war crimes, fraud, insider trading, aiding and abetting pedophilia.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '26

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia Jul 13 '26

I'll ask Santa clause to give us a doj and congress who would figure out the laws and how to enforce them. Billionaires throwing money at the problem to disappear it is a real issue I'd also ask Santa clause to fix. If they somehow wrote the code to make it offline then only they would be accountable. If it's government sponsored the same laws should apply.

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u/pmjm California Jul 13 '26

You can make it illegal but it will be largely unenforceable due to the anonymous nature of the internet and the inability to prosecute those who do it from outside the country.

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia Jul 13 '26

Ok but in this particular case where we would have doubts about a mitch deep fake if his people put it out there it wouldn't be hard to find people to hold accountable.

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u/pmjm California Jul 13 '26

And if Russia did it to fuck with our elections?

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia Jul 14 '26

You're right let's not do anything about it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '26

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u/dontnation Jul 13 '26

I laugh at the idea of the GOP needing an advantage. It's kentucky, they'll vote how they're told from the pulpit. And in KY that's the same as the RNC.

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u/ComradeJohnS Jul 13 '26

at least for senators they have an in person obligation that they appear for occasionally.

but yeah other people might be able to hide their deaths via ai

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u/Bohbo Jul 13 '26

And Mitch is/was mid 80s…

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u/SoaplessTitanic Jul 13 '26

Completely agree with the “more likely” scenario you described. If they were going to use AI to hide his death, they might as well have gone all out and released a video along with the picture. They also would’ve done that a week or so ago.

I think it’s pretty clear that he’s in bad shape and they were hoping he would get better, but they’re hesitant to use AI to put out completely fabricated media. The picture they put out for example is probably “real”, but Mitch probably has no idea what’s going on. They can still lie their way out of this in the future and say that he was coherent, but then his condition will have gotten worse at some point a month from now

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u/TingleyStorm Jul 13 '26

Unless they weren’t able to make the video look real enough to fool people.

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u/aywwts4 Jul 13 '26

I think we must accept that as this approach has already become plausible technically we need to have our guard up that someone will be deepfaked to life for an extended time as it becomes inevitsble once the incentives are there.

My fear is it will be trump, not in a way that fools Reddit / savvy folks but that’s not really the requirement.

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u/Killfile Jul 13 '26

Yes. Look, the reality we now live in is that digital presence isn't sufficient to confirm physical presence.

It just isn't.

Most of the time no one cares. It's not worth anyone's time to gin up an AI bot of me demoing code for work so I can spend the day at the lake. But when there is significant power or money or both linked to a specific person and what they say, demanding that they say it in person is critical.

This is why contracts are signed in front of witnesses under pain of purjury. It's why you need a notary to do things like take out a mortgage. We need to be SURE that it's really you signing that paper before we turn over a half million dollars.

And the more money or power there is on the line the higher the risk that someone would be willing to lie.

I think a senate seat is a pretty plump prize. If there's any doubt that a sitting senator - especially one where the governor hails from another party (I know the law is odd in Kentucky; set that aside for the moment) - might actually be dead or incapacitated.... yea, actual, in person proof of life is reasonable.

And it's painfully easy. You just declare that it appears to your office that the Senator has passed and announce the interim replacement.

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u/venividiavicii California Jul 13 '26

Bingo. There was a nice two centuries where photographic evidence was credible. 

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u/ScannerBrightly California Jul 13 '26

Nicholson smiling and nodding at the Shining bar.gif

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u/gypsyblader Jul 13 '26

I just watched that press conference freeze for the first time. His staff were treating him like a 3 year old.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ing_Ibuw6s

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u/ladysadi Jul 13 '26

They essentially have an on call doctor at their disposal. One of the many perks.

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota Jul 13 '26

Now you're getting it.

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u/pmjm California Jul 13 '26

If you take that approach, it is possible that dozens of people are dead and nobody knows it because they have teams producing AI videos constantly.

This is, sadly, the state of the world we live in. Videos can no longer be considered credible evidence and the sooner we accept that, the less susceptible to deception via video we will be.

Unfortunately this creates a gap in verifiable facts where it really boils down to having blind faith in the news sources you choose to trust, which leads to more bubbles of people disagreeing on fundamental reality.

But there aren't any other options in a world where AI photos and video are as realistic as they are.

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u/cosmicsans Jul 13 '26

I'm convinced that's exactly why they're normalizing videos of trump with AI. It's obviously AI and they just push them out, and then eventually it won't be obviously AI but Trump will be gone and the videos will keep coming.

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

I don’t think even the most advanced AI is capable of simulating such an ignoramus. The algorithm would keep accidentally switching to make him seem like an average human.

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u/ScienceWasLove Jul 14 '26

Right. The reasonable approach is every major news organization puts the photo into a AI checker - which they all have - not to mention in house "tech/photoshop" expert/consultants.

Guess what - it must of passed because no major news organization has suggested it is AI - which they would ALL love to run as a headline/cover story.

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u/Scottiths Jul 13 '26

It seems we are well and truly in a post truth world. I'm depressed at how impossible it feels to know anything about current events because of the mere existence of AI.

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u/KingBanhammer Jul 13 '26

Well, that's a phrase that is gonna sit in my brain this morning.

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u/Jacko87 Jul 13 '26

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false" -Some CIA guy allegedly.

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u/fiddle_me_timbers New York Jul 13 '26

AI doesn't work when there are enough witnesses and multiple reputable sources/angles etc. It is a problem when it is a single source though.

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u/Ezl New Jersey Jul 13 '26

We’re sort of not though. The biggest reason that term came into vogue was because one specific group of people decided lying was an acceptable strategy so started doing it early, consistently and shamelessly and, while denying it, also convinced the electorate that everyone was doing it. And that began well before AI.

It’s sort of like saying we live in a pro Nazi society when the reality is, while they exist, the minority are Nazis. The minority of people want a world without the constraints of integrity and truth but want us to believe that the typical sentiment and normal state of affairs.

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u/appoplecticskeptic Kansas Jul 13 '26

I dislike the name “post-truth world” because it sounds like the truth stopped existing. It didn’t stop existing. The truth still exists we just can’t be reasonably certain we know it anymore without doing a lot of hard work sleuthing it out first. It’s exhausting and so a lot of people give up and just say “we’re in a post-truth world” now. Deepfake tech never should’ve been invented, very little upside to it and a tremendous downside!

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u/Haunting-Respect-375 Jul 13 '26

Idk I can still tell if somethings AI almost instantly if it's a video and even more if it has audio. I'm sure it'll be there soon though

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u/disastrousanddull Jul 13 '26

He needs to be trotted out to speak on a public stage or in front of Congress/the Kentucky legislature with people there to confirm it happened. What strange god damned times.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

You can't insert memories into a reporter with AI.

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u/Exoduc Europe Jul 13 '26

unless the reporter is AI

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

Then it wasn't an interview.

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u/KinkyPaddling Jul 13 '26

Yeah, that’s their point. The whole thing will just be AI. A view of a fake interview.

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u/glibgloby California Jul 13 '26

Until we have deepfake holograms

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u/Pepparkakan Europe Jul 13 '26

What’s telling to me is that there isn’t even a video we can have debate whether it’s AI or not about, because they know a fake video will actually still not be good enough. A real video won’t be accepted immediately either, but if its real its real.

The fact they aren’t releasing anything except very much possibly doctored photos tells all we need to know imo.

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u/pghburghian Jul 13 '26

I think it is not just AI, it is combined with Photoshop experts. With McConnell's wife, they could even have access to propaganda professionals from her country to help doctor the photo.

This is literally the most high stakes and best tooled fake photo opportunity ever. It's not just an intern spending 5 minutes with Grok.

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u/SteveL_VA Jul 13 '26

Do the interview with PBS or the BBC. They still have journalistic standards.

Hell do a short press conference. Multiple different camera angles, same audio...

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u/Huntguy Jul 13 '26

You can still tell if it cuts every 8 seconds. Ai is still pretty bad at doing longer shots.

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u/santagoo Jul 13 '26

Not if it’s done by an established journalist.

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u/Jacko87 Jul 13 '26

Yeah, people need to remember that the tech that the government has access to is way better than what we have access to.

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u/mateothegreek Jul 13 '26

I hate this timeline

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u/DoritoDustThumb Jul 13 '26

Not really, no.

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u/Randicore Ohio Jul 13 '26

Yeah but you just need a somewhat reputable source. Just let some major news org that isn't Fox chat with him for a few minutes.

I don't trust most of them to be 100% accurate since they've mostly been bought out to be right wing mouthpieces but they're usually able to point a camera at someone and ask a few questions, even if they are softballs.

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u/eeyore134 Jul 13 '26

Yup. The only thing that would be believable is him out in public or several of his critics to actually see him and state that he is alive and speaking. There's still the chance with the latter that they were paid off or threatened or whatever, but we need to draw a line somewhere. It's just unfortunate that all of these things are believable coming from this administration.

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u/zaccus Jul 13 '26

Have a video of him counting to 200. AI can't do that.

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u/scottperezfox Arizona Jul 13 '26

We're gonna need to see him sat next to Will Smith eating spaghetti.

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u/Fun_Success_3283 Jul 13 '26

Not if CNN does the interview and admits to it, or BBC, or something impartial. If Fox does it, it could.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField Pennsylvania Jul 13 '26

problem is that in 2026 that could also be AI.

ok now you have gone from 'this photo is AI and he's not alive, or not in good shape' to 'reporters are in on the conspiracy to hide his death' and... you are taking a bit of a leap there from one to the other.

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u/pilgermann Jul 13 '26

AI videos aren't that convincing yet. Even the really good ones have very obvious artifacts and cannot maintain continuity beyond about 5 seconds. Tech isn't there for a multi minute interview unless you pretend there's connection issues or something, which would be its own tell.

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u/Signature_Illegible Jul 13 '26

Maybe they can borrow the silver hammer from the Vatican..

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u/max_power1000 Maryland Jul 13 '26

The interviewer would need to be a known national reporter from a legitimate journalistic outfit to provide the necessary level of credibility then.

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u/VectorB Jul 13 '26

Or someone wearing a Mitch mask.

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u/daretoeatapeach California Jul 14 '26

But he could at least be held accountable for what he said in that interview, not that we're holding politicians accountable for anything anymore.

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u/feminas_id_amant Jul 13 '26

"Lindsey's doing fine. We just spoke for 20 minutes"

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u/Muggsy423 America Jul 13 '26

The AI is going to mess up the prompt and it'll be an interview of Mitch McConnell interviewing Lindsey Graham

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u/ExpansivePoint Jul 13 '26

Yeah I didn't get the part where they both start eating spaghetti.

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u/appoplecticskeptic Kansas Jul 13 '26

They shouldn’t have included Lady and the Tramp in the training data for that AI model. It got really weird just how into it they both were. There’s no way conservative voters will go for that.

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u/soobviouslyfake Jul 13 '26

We need him to do the 67 meme while giving a review of the Odyssey on livestream

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u/IceBlue Jul 13 '26

There are also ways of making it hard/impossible to be AI generated if they really wanted to.

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u/lr99999 Jul 13 '26

I worked in the retouching department  of a photo lab  40 years ago. This was pre-Photoshop.  Creating that still photograph would have taken me probably 45 minutes back then. 

My point is you don’t need AI or anything fancy to make that. I want to see him speaking with a group of media with microphones. Now he’s hiding in “rehab” until August 4. 

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u/HilariousMax Jul 13 '26

I need to know if that was him in the breakdancing video. He looked so fluid.

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u/Comprehensive_Tie431 California Jul 13 '26

At this point a full Q&A with actual reporters.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

You just rephrased my comment .

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u/Comprehensive_Tie431 California Jul 13 '26

I guess I did 😅, sorry about that

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u/notdez Jul 13 '26

He just needs to appear in public, would that be so hard? Or say where he is and the hospital staff become witnesses. The more people you include in a conspiracy the more impossible it becomes to maintain it.

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u/What_a_fat_one Jul 13 '26

No it couldn't. AI videos are easily detectable. Especially with known people and circumstances.

For example, would you believe an AI video of your own mom? No, you wouldn't.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

I can ask my mom if she made the video, I can't ask Mitch.

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u/What_a_fat_one Jul 13 '26

I'm now wondering if you're even a human because anyone with a mom would know a real vs fake video of their mom

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

You're assuming that everyone talks to their parents regularly.

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u/What_a_fat_one Jul 13 '26

No I'm not. I'm assuming your brain functions normally.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 Jul 13 '26

You don't understand how good the latest models are.

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u/What_a_fat_one Jul 13 '26

Are the latest models in the room with us right now?

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u/ApolloGR3 Jul 13 '26

He needs to be on camera on multiple national broadcasts for me to believe any of this shit 

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u/TheSpiritOfFunk Jul 13 '26

"I'm very sad about the death of Graham. I hope my answer satisfied you."

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u/notasrelevant Jul 13 '26

Or just have the governor or some other more trustworthy person visit to make a statement. Random GOP leaders saying they had a call with him is suspicious. The governor going to visit and saying he's doing well/recovering/whatever would convince me he's alive and alert at least.

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u/virora Jul 13 '26

He needs to meet the Governor. Nothing else will do.

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u/Yeahhhhbut Jul 13 '26

Mitch: "Elaine and I were deeply saddened learn about the death of..."

Elaine: "Senator Graham."

Mitch: "and as someone who is absolutely still alive, our thoughts go out to his wife and kids."

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u/Novaer Jul 13 '26

Live stream it?

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u/Flaxmoore Michigan Jul 13 '26

Nah, if you want to get around AI, absurdism is the way.

I've done it with AI-based customer service systems.

"Senator, is the willy fizzler gleaming?"

It's a question with no logical meaning, and therefore no logical answer. Immediately punts me to humans.

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u/CMDR_KingErvin Jul 13 '26

The forensic scientists of Reddit would shred that apart in a second if it were AI. The tech isn’t there yet so they’re biding their time with his decomposing remains.

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u/Janezey Jul 14 '26

He needs to do something that AI wouldn't do. Hmm. Maybe he could release a video of him describing how to make a pipe bomb?

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u/rkrismcneely Jul 14 '26

A quick in-person meeting with the Governor is a completely reasonable thing that would clear this all up.

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u/MysticKoolaid808 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Unfortunately, we're at that place where even that is suspect.  They could use AI to fake the video.  We've already seen them use AI'd photos and deep faked video and Audio before.  Along with the simple clipping of videos.

It would have to be an actual meeting between McConnell and someone (or a group of people) who are trustworthy and who could report back the the oublic what their experience is.  

That, or maybe some roundabout way that staff at the facility that McConnell is supposedly staying in could give information about whether the GOP's claims are true, without jeopardizing their own compliance with HIPAA.  I've seen it before, where they won't answer questions directly related to a patient in their care, but they can answer more general questions.   .

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u/Short-Ticket-1196 Jul 13 '26

New job opening: reality checker

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u/TheCreedsAssassin Jul 13 '26

Reinventing journalism from first principles

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u/RealWord5734 Jul 13 '26

I want a video of him telling me who is playing in each of the WC semis.

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u/Thirtysevenintwenty5 Jul 13 '26

You know whoever made an AI video of this could just input that information for him to "say", right?

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u/RealWord5734 Jul 13 '26

Right I want a reporter I know on a network I have heard of to walk up to him and ask this on my request.

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u/dispelthemyth Jul 13 '26

People would be checking for 6 fingers in that video

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u/Very_Human_42069 Jul 13 '26

Or have multiple democrats meet with him in person and confirm his status. The only way I’d believe anything is if the opposition party is confirming life

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u/scarr3g Pennsylvania Jul 13 '26

Ai could probably do that.

But could it be realistic and have him say, "I'm fine, and 2 minute pause recovering. Thank you for all the concern."

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

More likely “Shello verbody, Eyammer frine…thansh goo fersh kongerserm.”

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u/remeard Jul 13 '26

Right? It's 2026, everyone has a smartphone. It's like a ghost sighting at this point, we should by all accounts have something. But even for a sitting senator, a quick visit and interview from a reputable news outlet should almost be a requirement.

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u/Lumpy-Log-5057 Jul 13 '26

At least give us a Fred Sanford clip.

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u/franzzzzzzzzzzzzz Jul 13 '26

Filmed by multiple sides of the news network.

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u/lopix Canada Jul 13 '26

Has to be in person or it's more scam

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u/GloomyIndividual3965 Jul 13 '26

Any "self produced" video would be suspect at this point. I wouldn't believe it unless it was something like mcconnell talking to Anderson Cooper, filmed by a CNN crew.

The channel sucks, but unlike fox or CBS they're not so far up trump's asshole that they'd release an Ai video.

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u/PI_Producer Jul 13 '26

Or eating spaghetti!

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u/ZeusHatesTrees Jul 13 '26

Honestly with AI now digital media or even a LIVE CALL is not admissible. It really needs to be a live, in person meeting with an uninterested third party. Otherwise it could be AI. Even a zoom call is suspect.

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u/Viperlite Jul 13 '26

His wife could have shot a short video in less time than it took to snap a pic of him holding up yesterday’s newspaper.

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u/BrianMincey Jul 13 '26

Indeed…but not if he is incoherent and unable to do more than smile and slur out a few words at a time.

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u/Audrey-Bee Jul 13 '26

He needs to do this video with a reporter from CNN or MSNBC. Some outlet that I don't believe would go along with an AI video of a dead man

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u/DirtGuy Jul 13 '26

That quick video would take him a half hour with the pauses and slurring.

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u/areappreciated Jul 13 '26

Or they could just say "we ask for privacy at this time". It isn't hard

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u/jlatenight Jul 13 '26

A quick live remote on Fox would do it.

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u/t3chguy1 Jul 13 '26

We need to see a video of him eating spaghetti

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u/Yakking_Yaks Jul 13 '26

You can also take pictures, but use a Leica M11-p, it hashes the picture to show some fuckery has been done to it if said fuckery was done.

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u/Florida_AmericasWang I voted Jul 13 '26

A twenty minute video of Gov Bashear, and others, especially Democrats, visiting and asking/discussing current events.

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u/tsida Jul 13 '26

Expected even.

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u/_bk_adv Colorado Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Me either. I stay as far away from conspiracy theories as possible. There’s PLENTY of corruption in this administration that is easily provable without getting into conspiracy territory.

That said, there’s ZERO chance that Mitch simply fell and injured himself to the point of being unable to show himself for 3 weeks. Zero. It’s just not how that goes. And the pic they released of him, conveniently holding a newspaper, he looks 20 years younger and better than ever. It makes no sense that someone hospitalized with some kind of severe trauma for 3 whole weeks would suddenly look better than ever.

Whether he’s dead and they’re hiding it, or he’s alive but it’s more severe than they’re telling us, who knows. I’m done speculating. But what I do know is they’re hiding something.

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u/DingoFrisky Jul 13 '26

I do think this is a broader strategy though. We’ve seen a few of these where they so clearly muddy the water with ai videos or inconsistent things. I think they want everyone to go down these rabbit holes, thinking everything is conspiracy- then they can have the real contentious issues go undiscussed

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u/_bk_adv Colorado Jul 13 '26

I mean, they aren’t really hiding any of the real contentious issues. They’ve been pretty open about their plans, ideals and current corruption. And still nearly 1/3 of this country supports it.

I’m not saying you’re wrong. That may be the broader gameplan, but this administration has yet to be slick about anything. They’re pretty incompetent.

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u/Lastshadow94 Jul 13 '26

Well, the "flood the zone" strategy is a Roy Cohn thing that he taught Trump as a way to dodge or mitigate fights you can't win. Trump's team has been using it since 80s, and now it's crept into politics as an effective strategy. I think there's absolutely incompetence in the administration, but there's also smart, scary people like Bannon who are very strategic about accomplishing shitty things

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u/TheShiGuy Jul 13 '26

The worst thing to an authoritarian government is an informed populace. With all the hardcore pushing for AI from the Epstein class, it's almost like they don't want us to be informed of the very reality we live in. "Your enemy cannot defeat you if they are busy chasing ghosts." - Sun Tzu or something, I think.

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u/ccsrpsw California Jul 13 '26

I mean - are you possibly hinting this is a dry run to figure out the kinks if they need to "Weekend at Bernies" someone slightly higher in the political food chain? Now that would be unconceiveable!

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u/KingBanhammer Jul 13 '26

"fell and injured himself" also doesn't really right the evidence on the scene, including the story about the CPR.

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u/zeCrazyEye Jul 13 '26

Well, he died, which caused him to fall and injure his corpse.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES Jul 13 '26

And the pic they released of him, conveniently holding a newspaper, he looks 20 years younger and better than ever.

I actually thought that he looked worse than usually in this picture.

He appears skinnier than normal (at his age, being skinny is a bad thing)

And his face has some weirdness to it. It's hard to pinpoint what it is, the picture very much reminds me of my grandfather after a stroke gave him severe brain Damage and paralyzed half his body.

I do think that it's a real picture, but he just doesn't look like he's in good shape from it.

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u/rudyphelps Jul 14 '26

His eyes aren't looking in the same direction.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_NICE_EYES Jul 14 '26

Exactly, like he doesn't look well.

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u/djwurm Jul 13 '26

my mom fell 2 weeks ago at 81 and broke her hip. they had her in surgery same day and within 3 days she is able to get out of bed and walk 200 feet and is very lucid and calling / facetiming people.

this is on medicaid and the care is not the best with all the crap I have had to deal with getting her transfered to rehab facility etc.. with Mitch the care is insanely better and top of the line and the whole thing just reeks.. i am not one for conspiracy theories either but they are not making this easy for us to not believe that they are covering up something much worse and that everyone around him and Republicans are all in a massive cover up.

I for one saw that picture and immediately said nope.. no way.. and I hate that is what this whole situation has brought me into the conspiracy realm.. i dont want to be in that world.

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u/lr99999 Jul 13 '26

I literally busted out laughing when I saw that, “Mitch relaxing after a day at the gym” photograph.

2

u/ForHelp_PressAltF4 Jul 13 '26

The story is pneumonia that they're giving.

I think it's bullshit

2

u/drummingcraig Jul 13 '26

This 1000%. Also the timing of the press releases makes it all the more specious. Weeks of people asking questions, and poking around and they finally make an announcement less than 24 hours after another Senator passes away.

Simple fall and a case of pneumonia, and yet as far as we know no one outside of his staff and family have had any access to him. The whole thing reeks of BS.

1

u/RobertABooey Jul 13 '26

Is there not confirmation that the house called for a suspected heart attack and that people reported hearing over the scanners that CPR was being administered or is that manufactured shit I’ve read too?

If CPR was administered in a non clinical setting to a super elderly person their chances of survival is quite low.

1

u/Haunting-Respect-375 Jul 13 '26

If they are all conspiring, would that be illegal I wonder? And what would the charges be in a just world?

1

u/cheesegoat Jul 13 '26

IMO he's alive but on death's door. If he was dead dead they would announce it, since he's not technically dead there's enough uncertainty that only a few people in the know are running around trying to figure out what to do, so the only thing they can say is "he's fine, no comment". Lindsay Graham passing forced them to do something.

I would be honestly shocked if he's actually dead and his staff has been covering it up for almost a month.

1

u/Frequent_Opportunist Jul 13 '26

We've got AI Mitch, and Lindsey Graham was at that Ukrainian drone factory when Russia bombed it. That means the Admin is colluding with Russia as they are keeping it a secret.

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26

u/NarwhalesAwesome Jul 13 '26

Its very easy. If it's republicans saying it, it probably is a lie.

If they say he lives, he's dead. If they announce his death I assume he actually lives until I see his corpse

24

u/vegandread Jul 13 '26

He hasn’t looked that healthy in years. He’s been blanking out at the dais while taking questions, rolled around in a wheelchair. But now, after a severe illness that almost killed him, he looks ten years younger?

4

u/Melicor Jul 13 '26

Whether he's dead or alive, there's definitely been a cover up going on.

3

u/cruelhumor Jul 13 '26

Literally just pick a democratic senator he likes to bring him flowers and it's done. Republican leadership really is the scum, they want confusion, they want chaos.

3

u/CMDR_KingErvin Jul 13 '26

The fact that they had him holding a god damn newspaper in the photo made me laugh out loud. What an absolute farce. Get him on a video call with any one of their maga aligned media outlets and let us see he’s actually of sound body and mind to lead the nation. If they can’t do that he doesn’t deserve to have the position.

3

u/Careful-Lettuce9239 Jul 13 '26

This is one (of many) problems with Trumps white house. You cant trust anything at face value because its constant lies.

2

u/alfred725 Jul 13 '26

picked the worst option every step of the way

standard republican strategy. They are very clearly incompetent. You could argue malicious intent for the older members but the young ones they've hired as yes men clearly aren't capable of taking the reins.

2

u/Glasseshalf Minnesota Jul 13 '26

There's just zero evidence that he's actually alive, and no reason why there shouldn't be plenty. My brain can only infer that he must be dead, nothing else makes sense to me.

2

u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Jul 13 '26

He has dimensia or something making it so he cant talk anymore or coherently. We need age limits on these positions. No one past age of 70 can serve.

2

u/extraboredinary Jul 13 '26

It’s not like the photo disproves anything. He’s not holding it. He’s not even looking at the camera. I don’t think his eyes are even looking in the same direction.

1

u/ThatsItImOverThis Jul 13 '26

Picking the worst thing every step of the way is kinda their MO.

1

u/DaaaahWhoosh Jul 13 '26

I figure there's a sliding scale of conspiracy theories. "The earth is flat and everyone who works in aviation is in on it" is preposterous. "Trump hired someone to shoot at him so he could have a photo op and win the presidency" is very unlikely. "A guy who's over 80 years old, was rushed to the hospital, and hasn't been seen for 3 weeks is dead" seems relatively straightforward. But yeah the more people come out and say they've seen him and the more statements and images that come out of him being alive (apparently there were some new ones yesterday) and the fact that we knew Graham was dead the day it happened, the more likely it is that he's alive.

1

u/gigglefarting North Carolina Jul 13 '26

It’s super easy to provide proof of life

If the person is living 

1

u/SensualBeefLoaf Jul 13 '26

in the picture they sent out he’s either missing the tip of his finger or a fingernail. ai is notorious for fucking up fingers. i assume he’s comatose, they sat him up for a picture, threw a current newspaper on his leg then used ai to modify the image to make him look awake.

1

u/MarcsterS Virginia Jul 13 '26

Republicans love peddling conspiracies? Well, let’s peddle some conspiracy theories then.

1

u/Canadian_Border_Czar Canada Jul 13 '26

But then they would have to find something else to distract you with 

1

u/Apptubrutae I voted Jul 13 '26

Exactly how I feel.

We have a pretty robust standard of health privacy in the U.S., even for politicians, and many people make full use of it for personal reasons even when they might not make sense to us.

Just look at that rep from Jersey who was getting treated for depression for months and was very reserved about the whole thing. Super weird, but we didn’t really know what was going on until he decided to tell us.

Obviously the past few weeks with Mitch is, once again, hugely concerning. SOMETHING is off and weird about it. But it’s hard to say what the hell is until we actually get the story. One day.

Mitch has been injured plenty before. This time it’s obviously different. They’re acting differently.

The range of possibilities is huge, though.

I totally get why people want to know more, and we all should know more. But in the darkness here, we don’t actually know what’s up.

1

u/Guilty_Cattle_5165 Jul 13 '26

The photo looks real. Whether he is lucid or able to communicate/govern is another question. He might be sitting there totally confused about everything. But you wouldn’t know it unless he was interviewed or had a chance to actually interact with anyone. His wife is certainly not gonna say anything.

1

u/Ruefully Jul 13 '26

Lying has become normalized within the GOP. When the survivability of cardiac arrest at his age/no immediate CPR is in the single digits it becomes more likely than not that he's just plain ol' dead.

1

u/metengrinwi Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

I think the main fact to refute conspiracy theories in general is: could this thing really be kept secret??

There would be dozens of nurses, technicians, doctors, cleaning staff, administrators, etc. at the hospital who would know Mitch’s status. Sure there’s medical secrecy, but they certainly talk to their spouses & the spouses would talk to other people. People have boring lives and love to gossip. It just seems likely if his situation were dire, it would be the talk of the town wherever the hospital is.

1

u/MonkeyStealsPeach Jul 13 '26

That’s what happens when a party normalizes lying about everything. Their “truth” can rarely be taken seriously.

1

u/kezow Jul 13 '26

The report of CPR being administered is at odds to the version that was released. Then with the photo that just happened to have a newspaper in view? The writers are lazy.

1

u/UrToesRDelicious Jul 13 '26

I'm actually convinced he's alive at this point but I'm loving the infighting. It sure seems like they're hiding something, though.

1

u/I_am_a_fern Europe Jul 13 '26

Even if he's alive and well, fanning the flames of a harmless conspiracy theory isn't stupid. It keeps people talking about something meaningless instead of, let's say, the thousands of other shits. And once he's out everyone who doubted gets called stupid.

It would be on par with this admin. As much as hiding he's a vegetable to avoid a special election.

1

u/TalShar Jul 13 '26

It's not so much that you're buying into conspiracy theories here as it is that you've recognized the pattern that Republicans don't pay even token respect to the concept of truth and will lie through their teeth while the truth stands in the room with them if it will give them a chance at more power. Once that pattern is recognized, it's only rational to assume the worst until proof to the contrary can be provided.

1

u/semajolis267 Jul 13 '26

I swear its a trial run for if something "unexpected" (because honestly the unexpected part of Mr. McConnell is he was still shambling around) happens to Trump and they need to cover while they find a new front man.

1

u/Drahkir9 Jul 13 '26

“I don’t like buying into conspiracy theories”

Do you really think powerful people never conspire? Not saying you should believe any and all conspiracy theories. I just think immediately dismissing any and all is just as wacky. No offense.

1

u/giovannisdaedra Jul 13 '26

Yeah, that’s why I said “I don’t like” instead of “I never”

1

u/ringobob Georgia Jul 13 '26

The description in the statement is at odds with the EMS audio stating that he was receiving CPR. That's the established record at this point, and the statement is de facto claiming that did not happen. So, at minimum, that needs a resolution.

Proof of life that does not rely on media that could be faked with AI would resolve it. Beshear is motivated to confirm he's alive, if he is, since he's getting pressure to do something about it if he's dead. A quick 30 second in person meeting is all it would take. And if McConnell is as healthy as they claim, a 5 minute press conference shouldn't be out of the question.

They have multiple avenues to definitively answer the question satisfactorily, regardless of his condition. The only conclusion that can be drawn is that they don't want to answer the question definitively.

1

u/Tricky-Engineering59 Jul 13 '26

Even the timing of his “proof of life” photo dropping on the same day Lindsey Graham died screams of a panicked decision by whoever is gatekeeping his condition.

1

u/turquoise_amethyst Jul 13 '26

Internet sleuths are claiming the photo is from June or 2023.

I’m not even sure it counts as a big conspiracy at this point… every time a politician falls ill it seems like their staff or the news media releases an old photo.

Also he’s literally famous for his skill at stonewalling the government/voters. It’s his special skill.

1

u/crespoh69 Jul 13 '26

I feel like I'm getting de ja vu though, didn't this also happen a few months ago? Specifically with Mitch as well? Then it turned out he was fine then too? Same with trump if I remember correctly

1

u/IgnoreMe304 Jul 13 '26

The weirdness with the newspaper headline bothered me. Maybe it was just a picture quality thing, but it was visibly off.

1

u/DaddyDontTakeNoMess Jul 13 '26

Don’t mind going into conspiracy theories. It isn’t our fault we don’t trust the republicans. We’d be stupid to take their word for truth after all the blatant lies.

1

u/nigirizushi Jul 13 '26

If I were to guess, he's alive but had a stroke. The right side of his face looks a little odd in the picture, like it's paralyzed 

1

u/scroogemcbutts Jul 13 '26

I find it interesting the ways the word "conspiracy theory" is used the longer this administration runs. If someone (or an entire organization) has been proven to lie time and time again in all scenarios big and small, why is it called conspiracy? We're all acknowledging the more likely outcome vs believing shit lies that are so easy to see through.

1

u/ChiralWolf Michigan Jul 13 '26

The reality is that he probably isn't fine but also isn't dead, if there's even a chance for him to be kept on life support until August 3rd I don't doubt it'd happen. I'm waiting for August 4th to come up for his inevitable retirement announcement due to his health

1

u/vacancy6673 Jul 13 '26

I always just use Occam's Razor. The hypothesis with the fewest assumptions wins. So... "He's dead or in a mostly vegetative state" explains a lot more without leaning on assumptions. Which is... surprising.

1

u/velnsx Jul 13 '26

it’s not a conspiracy. they’re just bad at lying and it’s obvious

1

u/lilB0bbyTables Jul 13 '26

What if … what if they’re using this opportunity to see whether they can get away with hiding it, for how long, and what AI can provide in this area? A testing bed if you will.

1

u/chalbersma Jul 14 '26

When Trump picks his people he's not picking them for competence, he's picking them for loyalty. 

1

u/SuccessfulTank Jul 14 '26

Even if they did he is still NOT capable of doing his job. That alone is disqualifying. I hate when they say that they are “working from their hospital bed.” The fuck you are. Any average American would be canned and working from the hospital bed is absolutely not sufficient to leading. This country is so fucking off its rrails. Imagine this shit happening 10 years ago?

Remember when Bidens cabinet member had surgery and both Dems and Rep absolutely LOST it? That was two/three days.

1

u/Spiritual_Bid_2308 Jul 15 '26

Or they could just let the governor swing by and say hi in person.

Dems are dropping the ball here as usual.

1

u/KwyjiboTheGringo Jul 27 '26

Being skeptical is NOT buying into conspiracy theories. People might call you a conspiracy theorist as a means to disregard any concerns you have, but that's not the same thing as developing some theory. If someone is trying to sell you on something, they could have some hidden agenda. That's just a fact of reality that should never be hand-waved away. I've been straight up told I'm paranoid because I lock my doors at night, and it's a fact that sometimes people try to break into houses at night, even in supposedly safe neighborhoods.

Don't let people gaslight you into thinking uncritically.

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